In the meat industry, and particularly in those areas devoted to the processing of beef and pork, meat packers slaughter animals in a process in which the animals are stunned, bled, skinned, eviscerated, and fabricated into meat sections which are marketable to the public or the restaurant trade Animals enter a meat slaughter plant with various foreign materials present on their hair, including blood, dirt, manure, mud and vegetative material An animal's hair is also contaminated with a multitude of microorganisms, some of which are pathenogenic to humans. Most bacteria present in a meat slaughter and processing facility are carried into the facility on the hides of animals to be slaughtered. During the slaughtering process, these microorganisms contact meat and other meat by-products, thereby contaminating such products, creating handling problems and reducing the shelflife and safety of meat products.
The control of contamination by microorganisms is a recognized problem in the meat packing industry. Many techniques have been employed in the past in an effort to destroy surface bacterial flora on meat. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,216 to Clayton discloses a disinfection system using acetic acid spray in order to reduce bacteria levels and thereby increase shelf life of meat products Other inventors have utilized anti-microbial agents for preserving products normally subject to microbial spoilage. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,889 to Jurd discloses a certain anti-microbial agent that can be applied for preservation of a wide variety of substances including meat by-products.
Still other inventors have recognized the advantages of de-hairing animals to facilitate the slaughtering process. U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,152 to Georges discloses an apparatus and method for slaughtering animals by bleeding an animal, electrostatically charging the animal's hair, applying a combustible fluid to the hair and subsequently igniting the combustible fluid to burn the hair from the animal's body. U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,795 to Simonsen discloses a method and apparatus for de-hairing hogs wherein the hog is bled, its skin is scalded with hot water and then subjected to abrasive treatment to remove the hog's hair.
In the meat packing industry, many types of bacteria are known to cause food poisoning including E. Coli, Salmonella, F. Coliforms, Listeria, Staphylococcus, F. Streptococcus, Bacillus Anthraces, Balantidium Coli, Campylobacter Coli, Campylobacter Jejune, Francisella Tularensis, Sarcocystis, Taenia Saginata, Taenia Solium, Toxoplasma Gondil, Trichinella Spiralis, Yersinia Enterocolinea, Yersinia Pseudotuberculosis, Brucella, Chlamydia Petechia, Leptospira and Clostridium. These pathogenic bacteria develop under different conditions, all of which may be present in a meat processing facility. For example, Listeria is generally found in cool, damp environments such as coolers and meat processing areas. Staphylococcus is often found on cattle hair, in fecal material and in infected cuts and internal abscesses, and is sometimes associated with poor hygienic practices of food handlers. Psychotropic bacteria, such as Pseudomonades and Lactobacillus, are spoilage organisms affecting the shelf life of meat products, causing gas production, discoloration of meat and undesired odors. Coliform bacteria are typically found in soil, ingesta, and fecal material. Conventional post-slaughtering handling methods cannot adequately control or eliminate bacterial proliferation on meat products which are contaminated during slaughtering. In particular, refrigeration of meat during transportation and storage is not totally effective in preventing growth of pathogenic and spoilage bacterial flora. The bacteria present on an animals hide are known to grow in three temperature ranges: psychophiles grow from 30 degrees to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, mesophiles grow from 60 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and thermophiles grow in temperatures in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
In view of the above, a need exists for a new method for reducing bacterial contamination of meat and meat by-products from the outset of the slaughtering process, prior to the exsanguination of the animal. The present invention addresses this need by providing a method for reducing bacterial contamination of meat by removing the vast majority of bacteria at the beginning of the slaughtering process by removal of an animal's hair.